Paul Finebaum reacts strongly to Curt Cignetti's major contract extension

ESPN personality Paul Finebaum weighed in on Indiana's massive move in extending Curt Cignetti's contract. With an eight year deal that jumps Cignetti's average annual salary to $11.6 million, IU made their football coach the third highest paid in college football. It's an aggressive move, clearly intended to short-circuit the possibility of Cignetti moving on to one of the massive coaching vacancies crowding the college football landscape. Color Paul Finebaum umimpressed.

Finebaum's take

All it takes is a coaching firing to get athletic directors doing what they do best-- spend somebody else's money. Curt Cignetti, who was considered a favorite for the Penn State job, has just agreed to a brand-new deal at Indiana... Truly remarkable when you think about it. Until Saturday, a lot of people were really not sure exactly what the Indiana program was all about. But you beat Oregon on the road and it looks like you're going back to the Playoffs. I remember... about three or four years ago, Michigan State was afraid they were going to lose Mel Tucker. They gave him $100 million contract. He proceeded to lose to Ohio State by about 49-7. He ended up falling apart, getting fired. This is just an amazing story when you think about it in context. Paul Finebaum

The Cignetti/Tucker comparison

Finebaum's take represents the potential down side for Indiana. But there are some holes in any comparison of Tucker and Cignetti. When Tucker signed his 10-year, $95 million extension, he was 16-14 as an FBS head coach (and 11-7 at Michigan State). After a 5-7 season, it was a sexual harassment scandal that ultimately brought about the downfall of Tucker at MSU in 2023.

Cignetti is 136-37 as a college head coach and 36-6 in FBS football. He led Indiana to the school's first ever 10-win season and their first season finishing in the top 10 of either major poll since 1967. As an encore, he has the Hoosiers 6-0 and poised for a second consecutive CFP run. Already, Indiana has more wins than it has ever had in a two-year period-- and half of the regular season is yet to be played.

On a day when many have celebrated Indiana's vision in protecting the biggest asset to their football program's rapid rise, Finebaum chose the other tactic, pointing out that making a coach the third-highest paid coach in football off of 17 wins is a potentially risky strategy.